We wear watches for two reasons: Style and stories. Exploring timepieces worn in movies is only natural.
We’ve been fascinated with watches in film for a long time. For men especially, it’s our answer to women’s fashion in film.
Don’t get me wrong. There are several sartorially focused moments of Bruce Wayne transforming into Batman in movies. There’s also James Bond’s Glen check suit, which was introduced on its own before it was on his person. (It was Bond’s more subtle transformation from civilian to hero.)
But let’s be real. Little girls had their Disney Cinderella transformation. Sex and the City and Breakfast at Tiffany’s tell half the story through clothing. We don’t get it to those extents as often.
Still, we have watches. And we always have.
It’s not unheard of for prop masters to source fake timepieces. (That’s a testament to how important it is to have that piece. That specific model.)
Recently, I tapped a friend who knows plenty about both movies and watches (shout out to film major Kyle from Worn & Wound). In addition to using his ability to name models from movies off the top of his head, I realized something.
There are a few good categories of watches in film. You’ve got the recognizable classics — the Mount Rushmore, if you will. Then, there are the gems with undeniable fandoms, which sometimes overlap with another category — the deep cuts.
And, sort of like lost media, there are the mystery watches. The unrecorded referenceless ones or the ones too far away in the shot to decipher their details.
I’d like to dip into all of those wells today. I won’t cleanly categorize them since, again, there’s always a lot of overlap. Plus, it gives you an opportunity to decide for yourself. Consider its interactivity.
Table of Contents
Jimmy Stewart’s Rear Window Tissot
I want to start with a choice that I like to call “obvious to some”. Perhaps it’s “obvious to many” at this point, but it’s certainly no Bond Submariner.
I’ve spent many hours looking for information on this straightforward and curvaceous classic timepiece. Today, it’s a mystery that’s supposedly been solved. Jimmy Stewart’s (formerly) referenceless Tissot is a 6440-3.
This guy gets the spotlight quite a bit in this Hitchcock thriller. You see it when Stewart’s Jeff Jeffries is getting a massage during a close-up. It also appears when Jeffries is hanging off his window ledge. Don’t worry. I won’t spoil it.
Maybe my fascination with this watch is just the fun of a mystery begetting a mystery. Watch forum goers have claimed to “have been searching for this for years” or “assume it was a film exclusive”.
Now that the mystery is solved, is it less fun? I don’t think so. I love that vintage Tissot logo.
James Bond’s Rolex Submariner 6538 in Dr. No
Why did I refer to the prior watch by the actor’s name and this by the character’s? I just think the public dubbed each of them as such. But, of course, we all know that Sir Sean Connery wore the original James Bond watch.
There’s not a lot about this watch that I can say that hasn’t already been said. So here are my favorite factoids about it.
First, Bond breaks sartorial rules by wearing his sports watch and a dinner jacket. However, it was a wink-and-a-nod to the old money set who make exceptions for family heirlooms. The Prince of Wales wears his Omega Seamaster (the other Bond watch) with a tuxedo all the time.
Second, the Submariner is the watch that launched a thousand homages. Bond’s popularity certainly contributed to this.
And third, the powers that be decided on a dive watch because Bond is a Navy Commander.
The McQueen TAG Heuer Monaco 1133B in Le Mans
There are two reasons this watch is an important “movie watch”. First, it has an undeniably distinct look, especially when McQueen wore it in Le Mans in 1971. Second, TAG Heuer wants it to be important.
They’ve relaunched it several times, starting in 1998, then again in 2003, and again in 2015. Of course, all these relaunches officially embrace the name “The Le Mans Watch”. No one is particularly offended by this. Many a man wants to be Steve McQueen.
We get a nice shot of the Monaco when McQueen’s Michael Delaney is piloting his Porsche 917K. And hey, automotive sports and watches go together like cigars and whiskey.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch in Apollo 13
Art imitating life, then life imitating art. Of course, the American hero story of Apollo 13 is true.
People already associated the Speedy with space travel, the first watch on the moon and all. It made sense to strap one on the wrist of Tom Hanks’s character in the movie.
So, yes, the Speedmaster was already an icon when the film came out in 1995.
Naturally, the success of Apollo 13 renewed its popularity — that’s the life-imitating art part.
James Raglan oversaw the qualification tests for potential moonwatches in the ‘60s. I love that he referred to the winner, the Speedmaster, as “an important backup tool”. Apollo 13 proved that statement to be oh-so-true.
The Marathon Man Rolex, GMT Master II
The GMT Master II that Dustin Hoffman wears in this Shlesinger suspense romp is crucial.
See, Hoffman, who plays grad student and distance runner Babe Levy, is kidnapped while trying to take a bath. He’s wearing his Rolex (don’t worry, 100 meters water resistance).
He then escapes his kidnappers in nothing but pants and his watch. Since he’s walletless, he hails a taxi and offers to pay using this watch. He also manages to get some quarters from the driver to make a call on a pay phone. This was 1976, pre-cell phone proliferation and pre-Apple Pay.
You can see photos of Hoffman wearing this GMT style in other films and in real life. Perhaps it was his own.
The Captain Willard Seiko From Apocalypse Now
Both watches in Apocalypse Now, in my opinion, are pretty important. Marlon Brando wears his own GMT-Master 1675 that’s missing a bezel.
His character, Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, is also missing a lot. Mostly his marbles. Brando’s performance of Kurtz is one of my favorite depictions of a crazy person on film.
Still, it was Martin Sheen’s character, Captain Willard, who got his watch named after him.
Willard wears a Seiko 6105 with a black bezel and a dial on a rubber strap. It’s pretty textbook Seiko, with the cushion case serving as a distinguishing characteristic.
It makes sense in the movie since many Vietnam soldiers did, in fact, wear this model. And, of course, Seiko has since relaunched the Turtle Captain Willard within their Prospex line.
The GoldenEye Watch, Omega 2541.8
Some might argue that the Omega Seamaster is The Other Bond Watch. Others would argue that it’s simply the other Bond watch, as in literally, no caps.
No one would argue that the classic wave-dial Seamaster, particularly the 2541.8 quartz version worn by Brosnan’s Bond, is at least The GoldenEye Watch.
Bond sported this timepiece in its 1995 nick-namesake film. We didn’t know it at the time, but it was the start of The Great Seamaster Switch of ‘95 (trademark: me).
I love the scene in Casino Royale when top-five Bond girl Vesper Lynd notices Bond’s watch and asks if it’s a Rolex. In a brilliant melding of product placement and symbolic torch-pass, he corrects her and says it’s an Omega.
By the way, this Omega Seamaster style was one of my first-ever watches.
The Doxa Sub 600t Sharkhunter in Three Days of the Condor
In one of the most classic you’re-next movies ever, Robert Redford plays a CIA employee. A CIA employee who also happens to be a target for assassins.
The Doxa Sub 600t Sharkhunter is simply a cool watch with impressive water resistance. “300 water resistance?” he asks every elite diver on the market. “Hold my beer.”
Even more, it’s basically what Robert Redford would be if he were a watch. Its use of orange and brown, its curvy case, and that bund strap? It’s far too suiting for a shaggily handsome, bell-bottomed ‘70s golden boy.
Supposedly, this Doxa came straight from Redford’s collection.
Here’s a fun fact that’ll lead us into the next entry. Redford’s character in this movie is the aesthetic inspiration for Brad Pitt’s bund-strapped character in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
Brad Pitt’s Watch in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
What I find most interesting about Brad Pitt’s watch in this wildly meta-movie is that it’s an anachronism. Tarantino, after all, is famously detail-oriented.
Pitt’s character, Cliff Booth, sports a Citizen Challenge Timer 8110, otherwise known as the Bullhead Challenge Timer. Like Redford in Condor, it’s on an attractive leather bund strap.
Hollywood takes place in 1969 and is a love letter of sorts to the industry and the end of the swinging ‘60s. However, the Bullhead debuted in 1972.
I guess Tarantino simply prioritized the look of the watch over timeline accuracy. Mission accomplished, I’d say.
The Back to the Future Calculator Watch(es)
Take a sample set of people. Ask them what The Back to the Future Watch is.
I bet there’s going to be a high occurrence of the Casio CA-53W as a response. For the initiated, the watch Marty McFly wears in the original film is the unilluminated Casio CA-50. He then wears the Casio CA-53W in the sequels.
So they’re both right.
These movies are about time travel. So, the watch McFly wore was destined for iconicness.
Even more, we’ve come around to seeing geekdom, gadgetry, and dadness as pretty cool things. I’d even call them aspirational. These watches really represent that.
Zissou’s Vostok in The Life Aquatic
In addition to being a pretty perfect film, The Life Aquatic is actually quite a good watch-guy movie. Ned wears a GMT Master, and Klaus wears a blue Maritime Forces Vostok.
But today, I’m focusing on Bill Murray’s Steve Zissou and his Vostok Amphibia. To watch watchers, it’s as quintessential as his red beanie.
As an underfunded oceanographer, I find this watch suits the character as well as the always charming Wes Anderson stylescape.
Double Casio F-100 From Alien
The first entry into Ridley Scott’s now expansive Alien oeuvre famously stars Sigourney Weaver, Ripley, and her adorable survivor cat. It’s a film that makes one long for the golden age of set design.
But today isn’t about sets. It’s about props. And what the prop makers did here was take a real-life Casio, doubled it up, and added a red (or orange?) border.
Like the James Bond watches with added sci-fi functions, the double Casio F-100 is delightfully pseudo-fictional.
Watching Watches
The truth is we’ve been watching watches for a long time.
Dick Tracey’s wrist radio graced the comic strips that entertained ‘40s kids. I already mentioned Marty McFly’s iconicness to ‘80s kids. Even ‘90s kids watched the Power Rangers teleport using their wrist communicators.
We all, and again, especially boys and men, have always had watches in film.
What are some of your favorite watches in movies? I particularly want to hear about the ones I didn’t include here. Let’s start a conversation in the comments!
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